Usk murder: Man, 48, charged over Anne Jackson's death

A man is due in court on Tuesday charged with Anne Jackson's murder

A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of 78-year-old poet Anne Jackson.

Timothy Jackson, 48, of Sheffield, was remanded in custody after the Newport Magistrates' Court hearing on Tuesday.

Mrs Jackson, who also taught creative writing, was found dead at a home in the Usk area shortly before 19:00 GMT on Saturday.

Writing under the name Anne Cluysenaar her work had been been published in magazines and literary journals.

Her publisher Cinammon Press said she was committed to writing poetry and had lectured in literature and linguistics at universities across the country including Manchester, Dublin and Aberdeen.

'Talented poet'

Dr Jan Fortune from the firm said Mrs Jackson and her husband Walt had celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary the day before she died, and had continued to work on the couple's farm.

She said Mrs Jackson was very supportive of other people's work and would always put herself out to help them.

"It is a great loss to poetry and also a great loss in terms of the way the community of poets operate," said Dr Fortune. "She was a generous and extraordinarily talented poet."

She added the company was committed to publishing Mrs Jackson's most recent work.

Literature Wales said it was saddened to hear of her death, adding: "Her long-standing contribution to literature, both locally and nationally, will be sorely missed."

Mrs Jackson was born in Belgium and moved to Britain with her family before the outbreak of World War Two.

She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Edinburgh and later went on to teach creative writing at Cardiff University.